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Iran endgame nears — as Trump faces two stark choices

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President Donald Trump’s administration has bent over backward to negotiate an end to Iran’s grand plans to develop nuclear weapons — before the June 2025 bombing, afterward, and again during the follow-up diplomacy of spring 2026.

Yet Iran is unlikely ever to abandon its pursuit of the bomb voluntarily.

With nuclear weapons, Tehran hopes to become the de facto hegemon of the Middle East.

And that is the charitable view, one that excludes the possibility of a messianic theocracy believing that eliminating Israel would forever ensure its Shiite minority permanent preeminence in the pantheon of Islamic jihadists.

After three months of intermittent war, we are now better acquainted with Iran’s intentions and the realities of the conflict.

The Iranian regime has never viewed “negotiations” as a path leading to an ultimate “deal.”

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Trump’s red line: Killing American troops could trigger more pain as Iran admits to targeting US bases

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At best, the regime’s supposedly “elected” government plays good cop, while the bad cop theocratic henchmen periodically violate whatever understandings have been reached.

The regime’s art of “dealing” is not aimed at resolution but at gaining strategic advantage by postponing any military effort that leads to its demise.

As a........

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